On The Buses: 2007 stylee.

There was a remake of On the Buses on Harry & Paul this week! Seems like none of you saw it . . .


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My vote history:
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=2240596

It would be difficult to do a modern version of this series.

First of all, there would be no clippies for the modern-day equivalents of Jack and Stan to seduce - there are no conductors on buses of either sex these days;

The local bus company where I live have Polish drivers working for them - especially on the early shift;

You don't see many double-decker buses these days - they are all small shuttles;

Some parts of the country have "low-liner" buses - designed to get pushchairs, baby buggies, prams and those little trolleys that old women use for shopping on and off the bus - the conductor used to do that for you - the bus would run late if the driver had to come out of his/her seat to help;

As a boy, I'd often go to Middlesbrough with my parents and adult relatives - it wasn't always the case, but sometimes, an inspector would get on at some point on the route and look at your tickets - in recent years - in fact, throughout all the time I have lived in Taunton, I have only ever encountered him once;

At one point, adults paid full fare and kids paid half - but the buses in Middlesbrough insisted that you were an adult at FOURTEEN! These days, you can get passes which allow you to travel for free on buses anywhere in the UK - but you can't abuse it by travelling on a series of local buses across the country in small stages - it would take days!

This idea is not too dissimilar to the proposed revival of 'On The Buses', which was pitched by Ronnie Wolfe and Ronnie Chesney to ITV in 1990.

'Back On The Buses' was to feature Stan Butler, having run his own business for some years and made some money, starting his own bus company in the newly deregultated market, and hiring Jack to work with him. As they attempt to get the company off the ground, they discover a rival company has set up in the town, owned by none other than Blakey!

The comedy in the series would have come from the conflict between the two companies, and how Stan and Jack attempt to battle Blakey's bigger and more professional outfit.

All the cast were due to return, including Doris Hare, Michael Robbins and Anna Karen, folliwing on from the successful 'On The Buses' stage tour of Canada in 1988.

Sadly, the show was not taken up by ITV.

Shame!